Educational Resources and Training - For Student Loan Borrowers & The People Who Love Them

February 20, 2015

Lawyers Representing Student Loan Borrowers

I am delighted to provide free general information for student loan borrowers and the people who love them, but as an attorney, I must be very careful not to inadvertently establish a client-lawyer relationship with folks I don't represent. I am licensed to practice in the state of North Carolina only and lawyers are specifically prohibited from practicing in states in which we are not licensed. Also, lawyers can establish a client-lawyer relationship even without agreeing to do so. That's why I…

February 9, 2015

Administration Suggests Changes to PAYE and PSLF in Budget Proposal

Each year, the executive branch submits a budget PROPOSAL to the legislative branch. The administration's budget serves as a starting point for negotiations in congressional committees. To me, there is no world in which this congress passes this president's proposal precisely as it has been submitted. More on the bizarre budget process from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and from the Washington Post. In my view, the substance of the budget proposal is important for two reasons: first, it…

January 26, 2015

What Triggers Student Loan Interest Capitalization?

Sometimes a student loan borrower isn’t required to make payments on his or her loans, for example: • when he’s in school his loans and his loans are in deferment, • for the six months after he leaves school when his loans are in a grace period, and • during other periods of authorized deferment or forbearance. But on unsubsidized loans, interest is nearly always accruing (with a few exceptions). So if a borrower isn’t making payments, what happens to the unpaid interest? Specific events…

September 19, 2014

How Income is Established for Calculating Student Loan Payments

Submit the Income-Driven Repayment Plan Request online at studentloans.gov. If you have filed a federal income tax return in the past two years and the income on your most recent federal income tax return is not “significantly different” from your current income, you may use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool in the application to import the most recent year’s Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) into your application. Your monthly payments will be calculated based on that AGI. Married student loan borrowers can choose to either: file…